Am in my 50’s now. Have occasionally seen them take off from or land into water. Have seen them mooching about on the banks of rivers.
The other morning, ,fairly early, it was a beautiful pale blue sky. I heard honking in the distance and could see some birds coming from the fields out the back of mine. As they got a bit nearer, I did think they were in a sloppy V formation for geese. As they flew overhead, I realised it was 10 swans - it was an amazing site to see. They just look like it shouldn’t be possible with those long necks! And no idea how much further they were going, there’s no river close by. I love random nature moments.